July 16, 2007 8:45 AM

Take It From the Tap

by Kerry Trueman, cross-posted on Open Left

"Plastics" was the big buzzword in 1967's The Graduate:

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.

Ben: Yes sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Ben: Yes I am.

Mr. McGuire: 'Plastics.'

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Ben: Yes I will.

Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That's a deal.

Thirty years later, Mr. McGuire's buzzword is a big ol' buzzkill, and plastic's a deal killer. Plastic shopping bags-which Americans reportedly go through at the rate of 100 billion a year--are getting banned left and right--and rightly so. Card-carrying environmentalists carry a reusable canvas tote.

But bottled water's set to unseat the plastic shopping bag as Public Eco-Enemy Number One. "We're moving 1 billion bottles of water around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone," according to FastCompany reporter Charles Fishman, who notes that we indulge our thirst for convenience while "one out of six people in the world has no dependable, safe drinking water."

What a colossal waste of fossil fuels, from the petroleum-based bottles to all that gas it takes to truck the stuff hither and yon from its source-which, in the case of Coke's Dasani and Pepsi's Aquafina, is just regular ol' tap water, anyway. Taking a page from the Department of Redundancy Department, they re-purify previously purified municipal water. This is even more absurd than it sounds when you consider that federal quality standards for bottled water are less stringent than they are for tap water.

So, please, bypass the bottled water and take it from the tap when you can, whether it's in a restaurant or on the road. Bring a reusable bottle and refill it whenever possible. And yeah, we know some tap water may need to be filtered first, and we're aware that polycarbonate-based plastic bottles can leach contaminants. But you've got to pick your battles, and we're awash in bottles. Don't let bottled water be our Waterloo.

Learn how to live liberally, one tip at a time at Eating Liberally.